Question

imagine that you are at a friend’s backyard party when her uncle starts to stumble, and complain of dizziness and tiredness. It looks like he is having difficulty breathing. He mentions that he was spraying for insects in the front yard and may have breathed in too much spray. He sits and relaxes, but does not feel any better after 15 minutes. His blue complexion provides a good signal that you should take him to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, his muscles go from tense to limp. Now his breathing has become shallow, and his speech is slurred. The emergency room physician at the hospital finds out that your friend’s uncle had a busy day before the party. He was involved in cleaning algae out of the large pond behind the house before spraying the yard. He ate some old beef stew that was sitting in the refrigerator. The stew did not look or smell bad. Your friend is very concerned about her uncle and asks you to explain what the physicians are looking for as the cause of her uncle’s illness. You explain that the physicians must use a process of elimination to determine what caused her uncle’s problems

What are the possible diseases? Please list actual disease name

Answer 1

Uncle sprayed insect repellants. Insect repellant comprise of anticholinergic agents. These agents are capable of inhibiting the hydrolysis of acetylcholine which tend to increase the level of acetylcholine at synaptic cleft. This causes overactivity of cholinergic system leading to execssive sweating, salivation, bradycardia and hypoxia.

• The possible pathological conditon is overdose of anticholinesterase agents.
• The specific condition is termed as anticholinestease poisoning.

The possible treatment of this condition is

• Providing proper air supply to patient/ ventilation.
• I.V. fluids to maintain electrolyte and water balance.
• Atropine to antagonize effects of anticholinesterase agents.